[ramkya1]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Exactly!
Therein lies the strength of the Gypsy too - treads LIGHTLY.
4WD or 8-LEG-DRIVE! All you need with an M 800 or an Alto are four able bodied seamen to lift them out of any situation!

Nice line Anupji, 8-LEG-DRIVE indeed

Yes, Gypsy is one light and powerful brute in action.

========

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by ramkya1

SS Travaller,

Your account is therapy for my bald head; pretty Hair-raising

To do this stretch on a 800 is a real adventure, any timme, JAI HO to your indominable human spirit.

Thanks, Ramky, I am glad I could be of some help to your scalp re-sprouting the black grass.

I'd gladly take another 800 on those roads again, but perhaps not a Safari. The key factors on those roads are reliability and ease of repair. As I'd been reading elsewhere in the forum, Safaris, even when brand new, have anti-reliability softwares and warranties built-in at the factory, ensuring multiple visits to the ASCs within the first 2000 km.

On the same note, I wouldn't take a Fusion on those roads either, esp. a car that's more than 20 k km old. Multiple bad experiences with friends' Fords, including an Endeavour 2.5 TDCi and 2 Fusions (one petrol and one diesel), have permanently put me off wanting Fords, even though I have a very close friend working in a senior capacity in the co.'s offices at Chennai.

[ramkya1]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Thanks, Ramky, I am glad I could be of some help to your scalp re-sprouting the black grass.

...............................

On the same note, I wouldn't take a Fusion on those roads either, esp. a car that's more than 20 k km old. Multiple bad experiences with friends' Fords, including an Endeavour 2.5 TDCi and 2 Fusions (one petrol and one diesel), have permanently put me off wanting Fords, even though I have a very close friend working in a senior capacity in the co.'s offices at Chennai.

Hai SST,

I've been fortunate; found the Fusion great on most ghat roads, pretty planted around curves and straight as a bolt on braking; add to that a punchy engine. I could do 140 on it on good roads, I would use up liters more of adrenaline on my Scorpio every time I cross 130!!!!

The Uttranchal roads were pretty tough, never had even a miss-fine from the fine beast, love that car, would take it anywhere. Yes, it was under 30Kms then.

=====

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by ramkya1

The Uttranchal roads were pretty tough, never had even a miss-fine from the fine beast, love that car, would take it anywhere. Yes, it was under 30Kms then.

I love the Fusion for its practicality but hate it for its unreliability - esp. after the rather short Ford warranty is over. But a trip to the Himalayas, for me, whether in a M800 or any other car, has to mean just one thing - I must be able to get out of C-coverage area [C = cellphone, civilization, computer (internet), cows (the type that squat in the middle of the roads), car (& camera-)repair shops, credit card bills and carious teeth ]. Of course, the 3 C's that are compulsory are cash, car and camera - and the last two had better be fail-safe.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by ramkya1

I could do 140 on it on good roads, I would use up liters more of adrenaline on my Scorpio every time I cross 130!!!!

Well, for me, those are dangerous numbers!
And anyway, when, for me, the inevitable destination is the mountains, such big numbers lose relevance. 40 and 30 become more relevant!

Most important is the reliability factor and next is the 'repairablilty' in desolate areas. One would have to be very well heeled to have the ride brought back to Delhi on a truck, or on a tow!

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by ramkya1

I could do 140 on it on good roads, I would use up liters more of adrenaline on my Scorpio every time I cross 130!!!!

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Well, for me, those are dangerous numbers!
And anyway, when, for me, the inevitable destination is the mountains, such big numbers lose relevance. 40 and 30 become more relevant!

Most important is the reliability factor and next is the 'repairablilty' in desolate areas. One would have to be very well heeled to have the ride brought back to Delhi on a truck, or on a tow!

I think Ramky is talking about the NH8 and NE1 for those speeds - I also do such speeds habitually on the GQ, but max. 40/50 in the mountains.

Apart from reliability & repairability, I prefer cars which are not too sensitive about fuel quality. In the mountains of UK or HP, out of C-coverage, one is also not sure of what's going into the tank, esp. if it's called petrol. I've faced that problem during the drive described in this thread, with loss of power and fouled plugs, even though my 800 was an old carb version. Diesel, IMHO, is safer - the truck drivers act as your guardian of quality, and will tell you the best places to pick up diesel if asked politely!

[ramkya1]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Well, for me, those are dangerous numbers!
And anyway, when, for me, the inevitable destination is the mountains, such big numbers lose relevance. 40 and 30 become more relevant!

Most important is the reliability factor and next is the 'repairablilty' in desolate areas. One would have to be very well heeled to have the ride brought back to Delhi on a truck, or on a tow!

Anupji,

I agree, these are dangerous numbers.

There are stretches on the NH8, like from A'bad to Udaipur, Udaipur till Chittorgarh, from there on till Nasirabad, the road is arrow straight, you have a visibility of abour 3 KM +, you can do good times. The Expressway from A'bad down south, from Mumbai down, there are lovely stretches like this, where you can gain a lot of time if you push the car without hitting safety red-lines.

On the hills it would be impossible to clock above 40 kms average speeds and one need to be very very careful.

To have a ride back on a truck or on tow would be the ultimate trauma on body, soul and purse!!!!

----

[lordofgondor]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

How the car went through the mudslide and over the rocks in the 4th pic was hair-raising. The rocky patch was the toughest to go over, and was done after offloading everyone and luggage.

Hey SS, M800 is a real capable car for places where roads don't exist. The nice pics remind me of the climb to Rohtang & Jalori Pass that we did on our HP trip last year during peak monsson. Full of mud slush. But the Esteem MPFI coasted through it , though I saw 2 Innovas and a Scorpio stuck in the same slush.

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Who can resist those wonderful himalayan pics. I just see them and wannnaaaa riiide!!!

+1 to that man.

[lordofgondor]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Apart from reliability & repairability, I prefer cars which are not too sensitive about fuel quality. In the mountains of UK or HP, out of C-coverage, one is also not sure of what's going into the tank, esp. if it's called petrol. I've faced that problem during the drive described in this thread, with loss of power and fouled plugs, even though my 800 was an old carb version. Diesel, IMHO, is safer - the truck drivers act as your guardian of quality, and will tell you the best places to pick up diesel if asked politely!

Always make a point to carry System-G (petrol) or System-D (Diesel) for trips. At least adding them to the suspicious fuel(s) provides some increase in quality of what's going through the Injectors, filters and finally to the engine.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by lordofgondor

Full of mud slush. But the Esteem MPFI coasted through it, though I saw 2 Innovas and a Scorpio stuck in the same slush.

Quite so, LoG! As I said earlier:

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Exactly!
Therein lies the strength of the Gypsy too - treads LIGHTLY.
4WD or 8-LEG-DRIVE! All you need with an M 800 or an Alto are four able bodied seamen to lift them out of any situation!

After years of using a Gypsy, I switched to a Scorpio. Since I was quite convinced about my treading lightly 'theory', I waited for nearly two months to get my 4X4 variant. These heavy vehicles sink themselves in and then need 4WD to pull themselves out, LOL!!
And 8-Leg-Drive does not help these monstrosities at all!

[Ice]

SS,

Fascinating experience. I am sure that (like me) a significant number of t-bhpians will have lovely memories of m800 trips. New thread, anyone?

By the way, another car that used to put these others to shame in dodgy road conditions was the Dolphin. My uncle used to drive his on the beach! The fibreglass body and the peppy engine allowed the car to tread lightly, and it was a gem. The brakes were another story altogether, though.

[hotstuff]

Fantastic trip @SS-Traveller ! Quite amazing to see what an M800 is capable of...

Originally Posted by Ice

SS,
Fascinating experience. I am sure that (like me) a significant number of t-bhpians will have lovely memories of m800 trips...

Quite a nifty little car, the 800. My first car was a M800, unfortunately MUL had stopped production of the 5 gear version a few months ago and I had to go in for a 4 gear MPFI. I racked up around 30k kms before selling it.

Very reliable, cheap to maintain and fun to drive. The only problem with my car was that the petrol tank got hit while crossing some nasty speed breakers and the fuel guage stopped working. I replaced the tank twice before deciding to live with a dented tank and opted to drive around with a 2 liter bottle of petrol in the boot as emergency reserve. Managed to run it that way for about a year.

When I went off on an overseas assignment for a couple of months, I left the car in the office basement parking lot and rats happily feasted on the wiring and the entire kit had to be replaced. While getting the wiring changed, I also got spacers put for the suspension, raising the ride height by around 1.5 inches and also got the tank replaced for the third time. Though the raised suspension increased the body roll while cornering, it sorted out the ground clearance problem and the tank never got hit again.

@SS-Traveller ; The reason I remembered the spacers bit is that I am quite surprised to see that you could take your 800 through such seriously bad roads.. or rather 'no roads' !

I think the older leaf-spring suspension 800 had a better GC than the later version with the coil-spring suspension...

Once again, nice thread and superb pics... and yes, it brought up a lot of old memories.

[madhukar_n]

and all that on a "L" Board !!!
Thats great.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by madhukar_n

and all that on a "L" Board !!!
Thats great.

Indeed! Just my wife learning to drive at that point of time. The "L" plate proved there were no other drivers on board to take on those roads! In fact, that "L" was on for a full year, while I taught her to drive WELL (not on those roads though...) - and today, I have complete peace of mind when she's out with the car, because I know she's a capable and good driver.

[rkbharat]

M800 is without a doubt a great car. And I realized it after driving it on highways after almost 10 years of purchase and after driving Indica and SX4. Took it twice to Delhi-Chandigarh-Delhi tour on last 2 weeks, and was fun to drive.

Mine is 98 built Carb, 4 gear model, call it a replica of RX100. Some time it puts shame on big sedans faces while picking up on low gears.